Pauline Barbara Endacott
Pauline was the second child of John Vivian Endacott and Adelaide Gertrude Dunne, born on 12 February 192 in the "Red Cross Home" at Hay in New South Wales.
The family moved when the police service transferred Pauline's father to other locations, notably Narrandera and Griffith in New South Wales. The family eventually relocated to Sydney, making the family home at No 7 (later the house was re-numbered to No 11) Belmore Street, North Parramatta.
Pauline. photograph taken in the grounds of
Griffith Police Station
Peter, Margaret and Pauline Endacott
Pauline attended schools in country districts, at St Patrick's school and Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta and, in the height of World War Two, at a time when her mother's health was also not good, Pauline and her sister Margaret were sent to boarding school at St Joseph's in Albury, New South Wales where her mother's aunt (Sr Aloysius) was teaching.
Pauline & her sister, Margaret, with pets.
Photograph of Pauline and her sister, Margaret, taken in school uniform in front of monuments in Parramatta Park.
When the family lived in North Parramatta a family friend was Mr Thomas who, with his mother, operated a small mixed business at the corner of Belmore and Brickfield Streets. Pauline liked helping in the shop and, no doubt, Mr Thomas and his mother were pleased to have a youngster around. When Pauline did something good such as making something or getting a good grade for a school examination, Mr Thomas was always first person, after her parents, to whom she showed her achievements. Pauline's grandparents lived some distance away and she did not see them often. Certainly, after her parents, Mr Thomas was the most important adult in Pauline's life.
photograph shows Pauline Endacott with Mrs Thomas,
mother of the owner of the shop at the corner of Belmore and Brickfield Streets, North Parramatta
Mr Thomas and his mother, with young Pauline
and Margaret on an outing in Parramatta Park,
on Anzac Day, 25 April 1940.
click for enlargement
Pauline's Intermediate Certificate usually awarded (prior to the mid-1960s) after three years of high school.
click for enlargement
Pauline later attended business college and was employed in an accountant's office in Daking House, Rawson Place, Sydney (in the 1990s the building was refurbished to become a hostel for travelling backpackers. Pauline also worked part-time as an usherette (in those days men were referred to as "ushers" and women as "usherettes") at the Civic cinema in Parramatta. The word "cinema" was not part of the Australian vocabulary at that time and it would have been referred to more commonly as a "picture theatre".
The family home was frequented by family friends, relatives and friends of friends, who were servicemen looking for a family atmosphere and welcome during any leave they were granted in Sydney. Pauline was attracted by men in uniform and made friends with servicemen visiting Sydney at the end of World War Two. On her own account, she would have married a favourite English sailor, except that he wanted her to move back to England to live.
Pauline with her close friend Thea Vild (later Thea Flynn)
"row, row, row the boat!"
Pauline and her father
Pauline and Dan
Pauline met Daniel Cleary at a dance in Parramatta (either the Town Hall or the now-gone Rivoli dance hall). The romantic proposal of marriage came while Pauline was sitting on a swing in a playground area, near the Bellevue Street side of Belmore Park, North Parramatta. They married on 18 September 1948 in St Patrick's Church Parramatta. In the photograph above, can be seen Dan's mother behind the bride, and flowergirl, Barbara Endacott.
newspaper clipping, unknown source but appears to be local newspaper in district of
Tocumwal, NSW, approx. September 1948. (note the error with the groom's name)
from left : Barbara Endacott (flowergirl), Frank Cleary (best man), Margaret Endacott (bridesmaid),
Dan Cleary (groom), Pauline Endacott (bride), John Endacott (father of bride), Thea Vild (bridesmaid), and Reg Spencer (groomsman)
Dan and Pauline enjoyed a honeymoon at Terrigal on the NSW Central Coast.
click here to go forward to later years of Pauline's life
